


The Untitled Project

by finitendings



Category: Inception (2010), Person of Interest (TV)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-06-17
Updated: 2012-06-17
Packaged: 2017-11-07 22:30:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 659
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/436154
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/finitendings/pseuds/finitendings
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Machine generates the next number for Ariadne which introduces Reese and Finch into a whole different level of crime. Crossover between Person of Interest and Inception</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Untitled Project

**Author's Note:**

> Fans of Inception and Person of Interest may not be mutually exclusive. Hence with the prologue, I try to set up the premise for both fandoms, so readers will be relatively on the same page. I do apologize in advance if I lose any of you but I do try to be as encompassing as possible without being too spoilery.

After the Fischer job, Ariadne settled back in France to finish her studies.  For all intents and purpose, she had the financial means to do without an actual degree, but she knew that having it would lend her credibility in the long term.  Besides she enjoyed learning, and despite her hectic school schedule and deadlines, it gave her a direction.  So from École Nationale Supérieure d'Architecture de Paris Belleville, she learned to redefine romanticism using lines and shapes, to articulate a personal style in placement and shadowing.  Theory and technique found their place.  But, with the knowledge came the realization that nobody warned her of the transition between the unbridled freedom that came with creating in the dreamscape and the respected confines of drawing on two dimensional paper.  
  
 She confessed to the man who first introduced her to the world of dream sharing.   Professor Miles expressed caution, “Don’t be like your namesake, Ariadne and fall so quickly for a ‘Thesus.’  I made that mistake once, my dear and don’t intend to make it a second time.  The world, this world holds endless possibilities.  How much of it have you seen and truly experience?  I concur that you did one job that opened many doors but do yourself know of your true potential as an architect?”  
  
The both knew that Miles was referring to Mal and Dominic Cobb.  Ariadne had the front row seats to the sordid melodrama that was Cobb’s subconscious.  There were nights that she still felt the knife driving into her core.  
  
“You see, Ariadne, the true mistress of our existence isn’t creation but time”  
  
 **.incpt**  
  
It was a tumultuous start to their arrangement.  An offer was made and then promptly declined until the stakes were raised, eventually a compromise of sorts was reached between a reclusive millionaire and an ex soldier.  The former, Mr. Finch, built a Machine for the government to prevent future 9/11-type crimes.  The Machine was designed to listen on phones calls, emails, video surveillance etc and then sorting the data into two categories: relevant and irrelevant.  The government was more concerned with the information linked to crimes that could cause mass casualties.    
  
Those details that were deemed “irrelevant” were deleted every night, and so Finch built himself a backdoor to the system.  From the irrelevant list, the Machine would generate a social security number of a person who was connected to future crime.  However, the catch was that the program did not have the capacity to differentiate whether the person was a victim, perpetrator or a witness to a crime.  The job fell to John Reese, a former CIA agent hired by Finch to stop whatever nefarious plot that was associated with those nine digits.  The notion seemed ludicrous: that two people who were presumed dead by the rest of the world, had the knowledge and resources to prevent crimes before they happened.  
  
But the reality was that the wheels had already been set in motion, the numbers would only keep coming.  In the words of Finch to Reese from earliest stage of their relationship, “Knowledge is not my problem. Doing something with that knowledge is where you come in.”  
  
But Finch did not know all; the Machine saw almost everything.  At the end of the day, Reese was only one man who was working with a finite set of information with a blend of instincts and skills.  
  
One day, the Machine will spit out a number that will irrevocably be the catalyst for change.  Though the day would begin like any other with some variation of the following dialogue.  Finch shall prompt, “Mr. Reese, the Machine has given us another number.”  
  
To which Reese would answer, “And who is it, Finch?”  
  
“It is for an Ariadne Chase, an architect for Mailloux & Kendal.”  
  
 **.poi**  
  
It seemed that Miles was correct - time was one’s true mistress and according to the Machine, it was about to run out for Ariadne.  
  
 _End of Prologue_


End file.
